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A gravely ill pensioner must be allowed to return home to spare her a “daily life without meaning or happiness” in care despite fears that she will die, a High Court judge has ruled.

The 67-year-old woman, who lacks the mental capacity to choose for herself where she lives, had threatened to kill herself if she was made to stay in the residential home where she receives round-the-clock care for a severe form of diabetes.

In a landmark ruling Mr Justice Jackson said yesterday that the right to life and the State’s obligation to protect it are “not absolute” and